A Nightmare on Elm Street appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. I don’t expect attractive visuals from a cheap mid-80s flick, but Nightmare looked borderline great.
Sharpness was mostly fine. At times the image came across as slightly soft, but those instances remained infrequent and minor. Instead, the film usually appeared concise and well-defined.
I detected no issues with jagged edges or shimmering, and edge haloes failed to appear. Source flaws were non-existent, and grain seemed light but discernible.
Though the film featured a fairly muted palette, colors looked accurate and appropriate. The tones were pretty lively and got a boost from HDR.
Blacks seemed deep and dense, while shadows offered appealing delineation. HDR brought punch to whites and contrast. Given the limitations inherent in the source material, I felt impressed by this transfer and thought it just barely fell short of “A” level consideration.
Downcoverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the Dolby Atmos remix of Nightmare came to life well. The front sound stage dominated and did so very convincingly.
The remixers positioned sounds well across the front channels and they even panned pretty well at times. Not much audio emanated from the rears, as we mainly heard ambient sounds, occasional "crash-bang" noises during the action scenes, or the movie's synthesizer score back there.
The music became the most active element, as the track blasted it from all the channels. This was probably a little too heavy, as it threatened to overwhelm the other elements. Nonetheless, the audio brought the creepier segments to life pretty well and added depth to the movie.
The music was the aspect of the soundtrack that sounded best. The score packed a strong sonic punch and showed nice range and definition. The other elements varied but were still satisfying.
Speech went from natural and clear to somewhat brittle but always stayed intelligible. The biggest distraction came from some poor looping, as these caused occasional lip-synch concerns.
Effects seemed a little thin at times but were usually positive. They lacked much harshness or distortion and managed to create reasonably convincing material. Overall, the remix took dated elements and made them into a surprisingly nice soundtrack.
How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray from 2010? Audio might’ve gotten a minor boost from the Atmos remix, but I thought the end result largely resembled the 7.1 from the BD.
Visuals offered a good upgrade, as the 4K looked better defined and more dynamic. Expect a nice step up in quality.
The 4K release presents both the movie’s theatrical version (1:31:10) as well as an Unrated Cut (1:31:19). What does that added nine seconds buy the viewer?
Not much, as we simply find a smidgen more gore/violence added to four scenes. The filmmakers needed to make these minor trims for MPAA approval. While it seems nice to see the “original vision”, the changes feel far too minor to make the uncut Nightmare a different experience than the theatrical edition.
Alongside the theatrical cut, we find two separate audio commentaries. The first features director Wes Craven, actors Heather Langenkamp and John Saxon, and director of photography Jacques Haitkin, all of whom sit together for this running, screen-specific track.
The piece looks at the origins of the story as well as various influences and inspirations for the movie. We also learn about sets and locations, camerawork and visual choices, effects, cast and performances, effects, censorship problems and cuts, and various shot specifics.
The contributions of Craven and Langenkamp dominate the piece, as Haitkin also frequently chimes in, but Saxon seems to be largely MIA. Overall, this offers a decent but occasionally sluggish chat. We learn basics about the production and get a fair examination of important topics.
However, it never quite catches fire, as it stays a little slow and plodding. We find an acceptable view of Nightmare but not anything terribly memorable.
For the second commentary, we find a large group of participants. It features Craven, Langenkamp, Haitkin, producer Robert Shaye, co-producer Sara Risher, actors Robert Englund, Amanda Wyss, and Ronee Blakley, associate producer John Burrows, composer Charles Bernstein, editor Rick Shaine, co-editor Patrick McMahon, mechanical special effects technician Jim Doyle, special makeup effects artist David B. Miller, and film historian David Del Valle.
All recorded separately for this edited “audio essay”. The track starts with a look at problems raising money for Nightmare and then delves into cast, characters and performances.
We get additional story and editing notes along with details about the film’s visual look, editing and score, effects and technical challenges, and other nuts and bolts. The commentary provides an introspective side as well when it examines the reasons for the film’s enduring success, genre topics and some psychological aspects of its appeal.
This commentary avoids the sluggish pitfalls of the original one and offers a terrific look at the movie’s creation. We get rich notes related to a myriad of different elements and check out matters in depth.
Many fun stories pop up, such as when the IRS almost closed down the primary house locations. This is a consistently informative and enjoyable piece.
29 Focus Points occupy a total of 18 minutes, 13 seconds. These mostly consist of outtakes but we get a handful of comments from from Craven, England, Blakley, Haitkin, and Miller.
Given that the “Focus Points” on the old Blu-ray spanned 94 minutes, we lose a lot of that footage here. Does this mean the 4K truly omits about 76 minutes of material?
Not really, as the BD’s “Points” often repeated content from the disc’s other programs. We no longer get info about the franchise’s sequels but I think most – if not all – of the clips exclusive to the BD’s “Points” repeat here.
Nothing amazing pops up, but we get some interesting components. “Points” offers a decent set of snippets.
Up next is a documentary called The House That Freddy Built: The Legacy of New Line Horror. The 21-minute, 52-second show features info from Shaye, Englund, Del Valle, Bernstein, Risher, Craven, Langenkamp, Haitkin, collaborator Sean S. Cunningham, sequel director Chuck Russell, Final Destination co-screenwriter Jeffrey Reddick, New Line executives Kevin Kasha and Mark Ordesky, and makeup effects assistant Mark Bryan Wilson.
As implied by the title, “House” looks at how Nightmare helped establish New Line as a successful studio. We learn about New Line’s origins and low-budget roots. We get into their first projects and how Nightmare improved their prospects before we hear about sequels and subsequent New Line projects.
Half Nightmare retrospective, half New Line overview, “House” is entertaining but less than detailed. It really rips through its subjects and rarely dallies long enough to give us true depth.
Nightmare series, and we also fail to find much of a feel for how New Line evolved over the decades. This is an enjoyable show but it’s way too short to deliver the goods.
Next comes the 15-minute, 33-second Night Terrors: The Origins of Wes Craven’s Nightmares. It features Craven, Jungian psychologist Dr. Don Kilhefner, authors David J. Skal and Dr. Marjorie Miles, Gnostic Society Director of Studies Dr. Stephan A. Hoeller, and neuroscientist Dr. Jerry Siegel.
“Origins” looks at concepts related to dreams and nightmares. We learn about historical perceptions and the views of different societies as well as attempts to interpret dreams and what they represent. The show also looks at how the elements that affected Craven in the creation of Nightmare and symbolic/interpretive aspects of the film.
No 15-minute show can really dig into such a rich subject with real meaning, but “Origins” does pretty well for itself. The program goes into a mix of interesting topics related to dreams and comes with enough introspection to intrigue us. This is a solid little piece.
Three Alternate Endings last a total of four minutes, 58 seconds. These include “Scary Ending”, “Happy Ending” and “Freddy Ending”.
“Scary” and “Freddy” are only a little different than the existing conclusion. As you can guess based on the title, “Happy” comes with a changed tone. None are radical departures but they’re interesting to see.
A documentary called Never Sleep Again: The Making of A Nightmare On Elm Street lasts 49 minutes, 54 seconds. It presets comments from Craven, Langenkamp, Englund, Cunningham, Risher, Shaye, Del Valle, Burrows, Wyss, Doyle, Blakley, Haitken, Miller, Shaine, McMahon, Bernstein and Wilson.
The show starts with a look at Craven’s origins in film and how he became interested in horror flicks. From there we get into the roots of the Nightmare story and other flicks with dream themes.
Next we hear about raising financing for the film, casting, characters and performances, and the tight budget and shooting schedule. Production topics include cinematography, sets and locations, Freddy’s makeup and finger-knives, various effects, stunts, a few shooting specifics, the movie’s ending, editing and censorship, music, and the film’s release.
Inevitably, “Again” repeats a fair amount of information heard elsewhere. With two commentaries, it’d be impossible for the documentary to avoid repetition.
Nonetheless, “Again” offers a fine recap of the production. It digs into the appropriate subjects with gusto and boasts plenty of archival bits that fill out the set. This turns into a fun and informative piece.
Does the 4K UHD lose anything from the Blu-ray? Yup.
As noted, it drops a lot of “Focus Points”, and we also sacrifice a text commentary. Like mentioned, the “Points” mainly appear in other programs, and the text track wasn’t very good, so these omissions don’t create major losses.
A Nightmare On Elm Street doesn't deliver a perfect film, and it also doesn’t become the best horror film ever made. However, it offers possibly the most clever and intriguing theme of any movie in its genre, and despite some flaws, it remains an exciting and provocative little picture. The 4K UHD presents very good picture and audio along with a mix of solid extras. Fans will feel very pleased with the upgrade in terms of the movie’s presentation.
To rate this film, visit the DVD review of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET